Jason du Pont

I recently fished in Montana for a week near the town of Missoula. I met up with my buddy Matt, who usually fishes with me in Maryland a few times a year. He relocated to Montana, put me up for a week and showed me some of his favorite spots. We floated a number of bigger rivers in the area, and waded some choice sections of other medium sized rivers. After a few days of fishing smaller stuff, we dropped his raft into the Clark Fork for a long float. The sky clouded up and the air temp was cold with a light wind. The …

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Cooler air temps and changing leaves are here, so the Fall fishing has begun. The larger wild brown above is also indicative of Fall fishing on the Gunpowder. This brown measured over fifteen inches and didn’t take a big streamer, but instead took a size 20 midge larva on 5X tippet. I fished a few hours in the rain, and the day after the big storm. The browns were aggressive in the mid-river areas (stained water) after the storm, especially on caddis larva and pupa patterns. A variety of brighter nymphs like copper johns, green weenies, and SJWs also produced trout in the off color …

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On my third day on the Frying Pan I fell into my routine of catching the morning midge hatch up in the flat below Ruedi Dam. On the previous days I found success with zebra midges, RS2s and DMC (embroidery floss) midge patterns. There was a ton of shucks floating on the surface from the hatching midges, including some midges still trapped in their shuck. The adults were large, a size 18 black body midge, with a gray wing. I captured a few wriggling larvae to inspect them closer. The larvae were big, much bigger than the size 20-22 midges I caught fish on the …

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I spent my second morning on the Frying Pan River nymphing midges in shallow riffles. I started out on a wide riffle at a lower access point, and caught a brown on a holographic midge larva. After fishing for thirty minutes I wasn’t seeing the midge hatches I had the previous morning in the upper sections, so I moved upriver. I found a good midge hatch and rising trout that lasted for two hours. Dead drifting zebra midges, holographic midges, and black fly larvae under an indicator accounted for a dozen fish by lunch time. The majority of the browns and bows I caught were …

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I recently returned from a week long trip to Colorado. This was my first time fishing in Colorado, and I narrowed down my efforts to the Frying Pan River near the town of Basalt. I landed in Denver and picked up a rental, driving four hours through the mountains. The Frying Pan, a tailwater, offered many miles of public access, and connected to the Roaring Fork River a short walk from my motel. I arrived on Sunday just in time to get a fishing license, check in and wet a line for thirty minutes. On Monday morning I drove up the Frying Pan to the …

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